Food startup Wonder stated on Thursday that it has confidentially submitted an application for its initial public offering (IPO).

Wonder was founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore. It claims to "bring the best restaurants from all over the country in one place," and users can order for delivery or takeout through its vertically integrated app.

Wonder Initially, the concept was a new food delivery model that utilized van trucks equipped with mobile kitchens; today, the company has expanded to about 170 physical stores across the United States. Its stores offer menus from over 20 "restaurants," covering a variety of cuisines, some of which are endorsed by famous chefs.

Starting from November 17th, the company plans to launch more dining options through Wonder Create. Internet celebrities, entrepreneurs, and brands can pay $10 per month to operate their own restaurants based on Wonder stores and receive a portion of the order revenue.

Wonder indicates that the company spent at least $1 billion on acquisitions, which included the food delivery service Grubhub, the meal packaging brand Blue Apron, and the delivery and logistics service provider Relay, as well as some popular food concepts. Thanks to over $3 billion in venture capital, Wonder was able to undertake such a substantial transaction.

Wonder completed a Series D financing earlier this year, which pushed its pre-investment valuation to $9 billion.

In an interview with CNBC in September, Lore stated that with the funding raised through IPO, Wonder will be able to undertake more acquisitions and move towards the goal of making food more accessible.

However, as a listed company, Wonder may also face scrutiny from investors. Weak consumer sentiment has been dragging down the catering stocks recently, and market fluctuations have also made the IPO markets of companies in multiple industries appear unstable.

Lore previously established Diapers.com and Jet.com, and sold them to Amazon and Walmart respectively.